Many teachers agree with the proposal to have no formal school on Saturday.
(Baonghean.vn) - For a long time, high school students have been studying 6 days a week, continuously from Monday to Saturday. Therefore, the proposal to let students take a day off from regular classes on Saturday is being supported by many teachers. Nghe An Newspaper recorded opinions on this issue.
Teacher Bành Thị Thúy Hà - Principal of Nghi An Secondary School (Vinh City): Students and teachers have more time for their families.
The 2023-2024 school year is the second year that our school has allowed students to take Saturday off and they will study on Tuesday afternoons to ensure enough classes according to regulations. The implementation, first of all, was based on the wishes of teachers and then agreed by parents because it was suitable for the reality of the school. After nearly 2 years of implementation, we have seen that thanks to having 2 days off on weekends, teachers have the conditions and time to take care of their families and prepare well for the lessons for the next school week. Meanwhile, students and parents are also relieved, they have time to rest, participate in extracurricular activities or spend time studying other subjects.
To implement effectively, first of all, we must prepare enough facilities, which means the school must have enough classrooms to ensure each class/room/session. In addition, the school must arrange a reasonable schedule and timetable to avoid creating pressure on students, especially on days when students have to study full-day. The assignment of teaching schedules to teachers also needs to be considered appropriately. Do not arrange too many periods for teachers if that day the teacher has a full-day teaching schedule.
Teacher Nguyen Trong Hao - Principal of Nga My Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities - Tuong Duong: Saturday school break will bring many benefits to boarding schools.
Our school and some schools in remote areas of Tuong Duong district are arranging to have a break every 2 weeks on Saturday. During these weeks, we will arrange an extra afternoon class to make up for the students.
In fact, our school does not organize extra classes at school, so on Saturday afternoons, students mainly go to work, participate in group activities, and train excellent students, and tutor weak students. Therefore, it is quite easy to arrange an extra afternoon of regular classes on Saturday to make up for the missed classes. We have also proposed that schools be allowed to have Saturday off, but it has not been considered.
With the characteristics of a boarding school, having a Saturday off brings three benefits. That is, students have time to visit their families, the school saves money on meals 4 days/month to compensate for increasing the quality of other meals during the week. Furthermore, our school has more than 50% of teachers living far from their families, many of whom still have to send their children to the lowlands. Therefore, if the day off is extended, they will have more time for their children and take care of their families.
Teacher Cao Thanh Luu - Principal of Quy Chau High School: If students study at school all day too much, they will be overloaded.
I think if we have Saturday off, it will be practical for both teachers and students, and they will have more time off to participate in extracurricular activities.
However, with the current program like grade 12, in addition to extra subjects like Literature, Math, English, we also teach other subjects for students to take the graduation exam. So the schedule is almost full all week. If we add an additional afternoon class, students will be overloaded and teachers will not have time to have professional meetings.
Teacher Le Van Tao - Principal of Ky Son High School: If the whole school studies one program, the implementation will be feasible.
We agree with the policy of having Saturday morning off because currently in our school, many teachers are working far from home, the school is having to arrange a suitable schedule to create conditions for teachers to return to their families on the weekend. Besides, many students are also studying far away, they really want to return home on Saturday and Sunday.
However, I think this is not the right time. Currently, high schools are organizing two programs. For 12th graders, they are studying the old program of 30 periods/week, so it is difficult to increase the number of periods in the class sessions. In 10th and 11th graders, they are studying the 2018 General Education Program with 28 periods/week. This schedule can be implemented if the sessions are extended to 5 periods/week (the school will organize some extracurricular classes in the afternoon). However, this plan can only be implemented when the whole school organizes the same program.
Teacher Nguyen Minh Khoa - Principal of Le Loi Secondary School (Vinh City): Implementation must have the consent of parents and students.
When I was the principal of my old school (Trung Do Secondary School), we piloted a week off on Saturdays, but then had to return to the old schedule. Many parents disagreed with the above plan because they thought that if they had to make up for an afternoon class during the week, their children's schedules would be too heavy and they would not have time to attend extra classes. In addition, many parents who worked on Saturdays were afraid that their children would be at home, without anyone to supervise them, and would get lost in their phones or video games.
Therefore, at Le Loi Secondary School, we are also considering and will only implement it if there is agreement and support./.